Decentralisation and Local Governance
Context
In India, the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amend-ment institutionalized the process of decentralisa-tion, the 73rd Amendment applying to rural areas and the 74th to urban areas. Their enactment in 1993 provided the legislative framework for the introduction of a system of elected councils in rural and urban areas in all states of India. In the rural areas these are the Gram Panchayat at the village level, Panchayat Samiti at the intermediate and Zilla Parishad at the district level. In urban areas these are Urban Local Bodies, Municipalities and Corporations. The amendments had the effect that these bodies were transformed to key institutions of local self-governance to advance the decentralisation process.
Today, the extent to which decentralisation has actually taken place differs from state to state. Each state enacts its own legislation on decentralisation, which has to conform to the principles of the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments. This leaves considerable scope for States to either devolve substantial powers to the local governance bodies or to limit devolution to the required minimum to meet the constitutional enactment.
Recognizing that devolution of powers and responsibilities to local governments is one of the most important challenges in governance reforms, a growing number of state and civil society institutions are engaged in strengthening elected local governments in rural and urban areas. The need for capacity building is of considerable importance in view of the fact that newly elected representatives at all levels in urban and rural bodies have little or no experience of conducting the work in a Panchayat. However, efforts to transfer adequate power and delegate responsibilities are often slowed down by vested interests that have a stake in centralization of powers and authorities.
“In India, there are 251,487 village panchayats (panchayat = local governance body), 6,350 block panchayats, and 581 district panchayats.” 1 “The states of Madhya Pradesh,
West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala are the front runners in the decentralisation processes in India for 2008/09 and were adjudged as the No. 1 performer in promoting Panchayati Raj Institutions by the Government of India”. 2 “In 2004, the Ministry of Panchayati
Raj was set up to support and accelerate the process of devolution of power.” 3
1National Panchayat Directory, Ministry of Panchayati Raj. 2 Panchayati Raj Update March 2009, Institute of Social Science.
3Government of India
Fac
ts and F
igu
res
SDC in India
Strengthening Local
Governance
DC
Objective
The overall goal of the programme is to promote
accountable, transparent and inclusive governance
at the community level that allows for greater
involvement of the citizens, especially the
eco-nomically weak and socially marginalized groups
of the society.
The purpose furthermore is to make self-governing
institutions transparent and accountable and to
enable citizen leaders to have an effective voice in
governance.
Response
For the last ten years, SDC in India has supported initiatives aimed at strengthening
local governance institutions in rural areas through state wide programmes in Kerala,
Rajasthan and Sikkim. SDC has also backed national level non-governmental organizations
whose activities cover about twelve States. Support to decentralisation for SDC is a key
area, which ensures that institutions of local governance in urban and rural areas bring
policy formulation, service delivery and resource management within the purview of
the people and enable them to exercise their choices for development.
The actions supported through this programme have included strengthening of training
institutions in development of training curriculum, provisioning of better infrastructure
such as buildings, computers and library materials, support of faculties, trainings of
elected representatives, and training of frontline functionaries who work with the
Panchayats. This enables people to access resources to design, plan and implement
activities according to local needs while assigning priority to the demands of the poor,
and strengthen women’s participation in local governance.
Photo © Richard Gerster
Partners
Rural Management and Development Department, Gov-ernment of Sikkim; State Institute of Rural Development, Sikkim; Kerala Institute of Local Administration; Kerala Local Government Associations; Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA) .
Achieved and expected results
•
Elected representatives were capacitated through training to
undertake the tasks relating to local governance. 21,000 and
18,000 elected representatives and frontline functionaries
were trained in Kerala and Rajasthan respectively. Frontline
functionaries were not only trained in the provision of the
Acts that legislate responsibilities and authorities to the
elected bodies but also in working with, through and for the
Panchayats.
•
To ensure that elected representatives did not have to be absent
from villages for long duration on account of the training
usually conducted in the state capital, a system of decentralised
training at intermediate and district level was institutionalized
in the states of Sikkim, Kerala, and Rajasthan. For this,
support was made available for planning and development of
infrastructure, resource material and trainers. This process of
decentralised training system has been institutionalized in the
states and the state governments sustain them with their funds.
•
Development of a cadre of trainers in the states of Rajasthan,
Kerala, and Sikkim for imparting training on an ongoing
basis to elected representatives as well as to functionaries of
departments who work with the elected bodies.
•
To strengthen women’s participation in local governance and
to capacitate women elected representatives, successful pilots
in engendering local governance were implemented and
successfully demonstrated. The approach is now being promoted
throughout the state of Kerala and upscaled through state
funding.
•
SDC’s partnership with institutions such as PRIA and The Hunger
Project made it possible to promote partnership of State level
NGOs with Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs). This helped build
the capacity of local government representatives and enabled
advocacy for speedier and more comprehensive devolution of
power by the States.
•
In select Panchayats in Kerala women’s vigilance committees
were set up. This was one of the numerous successful
experiences demonstrating ways of promoting inclusive
governance in PRIs.
•
The systematic documentation of success stories and field
experiences of partner organizations has contributed to the
promotion and upscaling of good practices across regions,
furthering the decentralisation process in India.
•
SDC also supports initiatives that demonstrate that PRIs not
just function as ‘good service providers’ but are also considered
institutions which take into account the needs of the poor,
discriminated and marginalized.
Projects
1. Capacity Development for Decentralisation in Kerala (CapDeCK). Duration: October 2007 to December 2009 Partners: Kerala Institute of Local Administration, Kerala based NGOs. Budget: 985,000 Swiss Francs. 2. Indo-Swiss Programme, Sikkim (ISPS). Duration: June 2007 to December 2010 Partners: Rural Management and Development Department, Government of Sikkim. State Institute of Rural Development. Budget: 1.5 million Swiss Francs. 3. Local Governance Initiative – LoGIn - South Asia. Duration November 2008 to October 2011 Partner: Relevant stakeholders supporting decentralisation in countries in the South Asia region. Budget: 3 million Swiss Francs. 4. Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA).* Duration: June 2006 to March 2010 Partner: PRIA. Budget: 2.5 million Swiss Francs.and his coterie refused to cooperate. It was then that the district administration suspended him and the members who supported him. I was made the authorized signatory for financial matters in the Panchayat. Finally work has begun. Earlier, I was simply a homemaker. The support from the district administration and Arumbugal Trust made me a real president. My other strength was my continuous fighting spirit, which enabled me to withstand and face the issues, to carry on with my job.
I received training from Arumbugal Trust and The Hunger Project, which proved to be a real revelation. I met other women presidents and discovered that I was not alone - many of them were in the same boat as me. The training introduced me to methods of planning and implementing development work in my village. We now have a federation for elected women representatives and certainly, the darkness outside will slowly dissolve. Unity and awareness are the only solutions. But I am still grappling with a few questions, which arise from the fact that it still feels like a crime to be born a woman in a downtrodden dalit3 family. When will this harassment end? Similarly, how many other women suffer the same fate as I do?”
1 Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are Indian population groupings that are explicitly recognized by the Constitution of India, previously known as untouchables. SCs / STs together comprise over 24% of India’s population, with SC at over 16% and ST over 8% as per the 2001 Census.
2 All men and women in the village who are above 18 years of age form the Gram Sabha. The Gram Sabha meets twice a year. Meetings of the Gram Sabha are convened to ensure the development of the people through their participation and mutual cooperation.
3 Dalit is a term for a group of people of marginalized caste.
Impact
Case Study: Fighting spirit
“My name is P. Krishna Veni. I am the President of Thalayoothu Panchayat, in the Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu. I belong to the scheduled caste1 community called Arunthathiyar. In addition to belonging to a community that is discriminated against, I am a woman. My community pressurized me to contest on a reserved seat. They believed I would be able to solve a long-standing water problem in our hamlet. I therefore contested and won the elections in 2006 thanks to the support of the people. When I went to attend office, problems started. The Vice-President, a rich and powerful man, did not allow me to enter the Panchayat office. He said: ‘You stay home; your duty is only to sign the cheques, which we send to you’. I refused to accept this, and was threatened. He and other members said: ‘If you do not obey us, we will kill you and have your husband removed from his job’. I filed a complaint to the police but to no use. The Arumbugal Trust, an NGO working in my district, encouraged me to pursue it and to stand up for myself. I complained to the District Collector in Tirunelveli and he personally came and asked the members to cooperate with me. But after that the Vice-President refused to sign cheques and would not allow any resolutions to be passed. Together with other Panchayat members he hindered my work. He even informed the community that I was unfit to do my work. I could not implement any scheme. Nevertheless, the local community kept supporting me and gave me their support in the Gram Sabha2. I then met with the District Collector a second time. He asked another Panchayat official to intervene immediately. Yet, the Vice President
Phot
o ©
Tom P
ietr